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The 2016 Johnsonville Canadian Rugby Championship begins for Canada’s western regions on Saturday as the BC Bears travel to Calgary Rugby Park to take on the Prairie Wolf Pack. A sprinkling of Canada junior and senior internationals feature across the two sides with three players from Canada’s recent test series taking part.
Gordon McRorie swaps his red jersey for the black as he headlines the Pack in their first steps towards defending their 2015 MacTier Cup title. Outside him is Canada u20 flyhalf Robbie Povey, who arrives from Northampton Saints academy in England to make his CRC debut. Mozac Samson will be a key figure in a dangerous midfield that sees him partnered by Ben LeSage, making his own long-awaited debut having missed the last two seasons with injury.
Peter Houlihan and Ryan Kotlewski are reunited in the front row after spending a year away in Australia, and there is a youthful look to the second row with former national u20 prop Liam ‘Fridge’ Beaulieu – at 6’5″ (1.96m) not entirely out of place – and 20-year-old newcomer Conor Turner, making his maiden CRC voyage. Argentine-born Lucas Albornoz is on the blindside with Americas Rugby Championship standout Clay Panga leading at no8.
The Bears have made a number of changes to the side after their shuddering defeat to England Counties a month ago. Andrew Lackner comes in at hooker and lineout specialist Craig McLaughlin at lock leaving UVic’s Kevin Leask as the only non-Burnaby Lake player in the tight five. Josh Clarke returns after several years away to start at no8, and national u20 standout Ollie Nott starts at openside.
Two more u20 grads start at the halfbacks with quicksilver Jorden Sandover-Best passing to the big boot of Guiseppe du Toit. Doug Fraser and Jeke Gotegote are a physical midfield combo, and Brock Staller starts at fullback after featuring as a centre for Canada against Japan. The bench features two recent Canadian reps – ARC lock Liam Chisholm and 7s rep Admir Cejvanovic.
It’s been nearly three years since the Bears last conquered the pack, and with so many new names adorning their side it seems almost foolhardy to prognosticate on their chances. On paper they have the talent to create an upset, but can they gel as a team quickly enough? While McRorie and Samson are dominant players at this level, the BC backs are no slouches. Much rests on the battle up front, where the Burnaby front row looms large.
The match kicks off at 3pm local time, 2pm Pacific, and will be streamed live by Wolf Pack Rugby.
PRAIRIE WOLF PACK
1 Peter Houlihan 2 Matt Harrison 3 Ryan Kotlewski 4 Conor Turner 5 Liam Beaulieu 6 Lucas Albornoz 7 Johnny Clarke 8 Clay Panga (capt.) 9 Gordon McRorie 10 Robbie Povey 11 Adam Bontus 12 Ben LeSage 13 Mozac Samson 14 Ian Shoults 15 Graham Turner
16 Casey Reed 17 John Braddock 18 Nick McAuley 19 Kyle Morrison 20 Grant Crowell 21 Jake Robinson 22 Cam Hall 23 Conor Desmond
BC BEARS
1 Anthony Luca (capt.) 2 Andrew Lackner 3 Ryan Ackerman 4 Kevin Leask 5 Craig McLaughlin 6 Brendan Kelliher 7 Ollie Nott 8 Josh Clarke 9 Jorden Sandover-Best 10 Guiseppe du Toit 11 Manar Kulkhan 12 Doug Fraser 13 Jeke Gotegote 14 Crosby Stewart 15 Brock Staller
16 Jordan Reid-Harvey 17 Nik Hildebrand 18 Cody McClary 19 Liam Chisholm 20 Admir Cejvanovic 21 Cody Rockson 22 Geoff Ryan 23 Gareth Marsden
